Aurora immediately understood Rhine's hint—
Even before the Sea Hag asked the last question, she had already stated the answer once!
That answer was…
"Love." Aurora said, "The answer is love, right? Uh, human love for mermaids!"
This was her answer to the first question, which she had just given a few minutes ago!
Of course, the answer to the first question was "immortal soul," so this was a wrong answer.
Rhine smiled:
"Exactly.
"The arrangement of fate is so ingenious; the wrong answer to the first question is precisely the correct answer to the last question.
"Oh, learned Sea Witch, even before Your Excellency asked the question, my friend had already given the correct answer!
"How is this not a sign from fate?"
Rhine knew that in such a fantastical magical world, fate was not an ethereal thing, but something that truly existed.
He had personally bestowed a blessing upon Aurora, causing the maiden to bear the prophecy of "defeating the Black Witch."
Although this prophecy could not fulfill itself automatically, fate would always create bizarre coincidences, striving to bring about this outcome!
During the Q&A for the first question, they had actually answered two questions simultaneously!
Ariel also helped her new friend:
"Yes, yes. My grandmother just told me not long ago that although mermaids do not have an immortal soul, as long as a human loves you, they can grant you an immortal soul. At the same time, the human's own soul remains immortal."
She said these words with a smile.
The Sea Hag was stunned.
A moment later, she burst into laughter:
"So that's how it is. Non-human creatures wanting an immortal soul – the method is so simple, yet so difficult as to be almost impossible!"
When the Sea Hag mentioned "difficult to the point of being almost impossible," Ariel's expression subtly fluctuated.
At this moment, Rhine felt that the fiery, hot energy surged rapidly, pouring into his soul, causing his magic power to increase slightly again.
The wish was fulfilled!
Although Aurora was nominally the one who spoke the answer, it was essentially him, the Magician, who answered and resolved the Sea Hag's inner knot.
"Another wish of a Child of Destiny has been fulfilled. I wonder what I will gain this time." Rhine eagerly anticipated new power.
Vast, ocean-like knowledge poured into his mind, directly imprinted in his memory and soul.
It was knowledge of alchemy, specifically how to concoct potions from different materials. The Sea Hag's memories of preparing potions with strange materials flashed through his mind.
"Sea Hag's Alchemy!"
This time, the reward for fulfilling the wish was not a new magic.
Instead, a perfect copy of the Sea Hag's alchemy was given to Rhine!
Rhine would not forget that in the original work, the Sea Hag fulfilled the little mermaid's wish by concocting a potion that transformed her fish tail into human legs.
Concocting potions was clearly this Sea Witch's forte.
Now, he also gained her alchemy expertise!
Compared to Rhine's alchemy skills when he first transmigrated as a Magician, the Sea Hag's knowledge of potion-making was undoubtedly much more profound.
However, the two sets of potion-making knowledge not only did not conflict but could complement each other and work in harmony!
Rhine realized that after integrating the two, he was now an alchemy master surpassing the Sea Hag.
"How strange, this reward isn't a new magic manifesting from the wish content this time."
Rhine was a little surprised, but he quickly understood the reason.
Previously, the subjects of his wish fulfillment were many ordinary people, the King and Queen of Rose Kingdom, Oz the Magician, and the Soldier who obtained the tinderbox.
None of them possessed expertise that would astound the world, nor did they have any other special qualities.
Therefore, the wish power gained manifested in its purest form, which was to materialize "the content of the wish itself."
If the Child of Destiny making the wish had sufficiently special qualities, the reward for fulfilling the wish would be related to the wish-maker's characteristics, such as directly copying the other party's expertise and talent!
"This is too amazing."
Rhine couldn't help but marvel at the wonder of his "Wish Magician" physique.
He looked forward even more to fulfilling the wish of the next fairy tale protagonist.
"Alright. Two humans, I don't know whether to praise your wisdom or your luck." The Sea Hag sighed, "You have answered my three questions, and as per our agreement, I must tell you everything I know about Maleficent."
She pulled a strand of seaweed-like hair from her head, then scraped a bit of mucus from her pet toad with a dagger, ground it in a mortar, and chanted an inaudible spell.
Soon, a bubble rose from the mortar. Strange images transformed on the surface of the bubble—they were patterns of memories.
"These are my memories of Maleficent. Just place the bubble on your brow, and you can read them," the Sea Hag said.
The bubble floated towards the large fish carrying Rhine and Aurora.
The large fish bit the bubble, swallowing it into its belly.
The two children inside the fish's belly picked up the rolling bubble as if picking up a ball from the ground.
Rhine tossed a gold coin, performed a simple divination, and after confirming that this was the answer they wanted, he put away the bubble, not rushing to read this memory.
"Thank you, Sea Witch, for keeping your promise.
"According to our original agreement, the three questions were only the first payment, to exchange for the secrets about the Black Witch Maleficent.
"Now, tell me, what is the second payment we need to make? This payment will be used to exchange for information about your witch coven."
Rhine believed that the second payment would likely not be as simple as "answering a question," simple enough to be completed on the spot.
It might take a long time to achieve.
"Help me gain the recognition of the Sea Kingdom, the Sea King, and other sea creatures!"
The Sea Hag showed a self-deprecating expression:
"As you know, in this Sea Kingdom, everyone regards me as a nightmare, avoids me, and tells terrifying legends with me as the protagonist.
"However, I merely did what every merchant does—collect payment for goods.
"I only delved into some dark magic—even though I never used it to kill any innocent person, I am treated as a monster to scare children.
"If you can help me gain the recognition of the entire Sea Kingdom, so that the mermaids in this great sea no longer fear or despise me, I will tell you everything about that witch coven!"
Rhine sighed lightly, once again feeling the fervent wish power from the Sea Hag.
In the original work of "the little mermaid," this Sea Witch gathered all the elements of a "wicked witch" in the traditional sense—ugly, strange, raising terrifying pets, living in a nightmarish house of bones.
But she was an honest merchant, not an evil villain.
In this poetic and beautiful story, there isn't even a single truly "bad person." Every character has their kind side.
Of course, perhaps this image was too suitable for a villain, and the story needed an enemy, so in Disney's animated film adaptation of "the little mermaid," this Sea Hag directly became the evil main villain.
Aurora's eyes also showed pity.
She recalled the mermaids' fear and disgust when mentioning the Sea Hag earlier, and she also felt a little sympathy for this Sea Witch.
"Sea Witch, this is not a task that can be accomplished overnight. If one day, my companion and I fulfill your wish, I will come back to claim this answer."
The deal was made, the wish was accepted.
When it would be fulfilled, that remained to be seen.
After Rhine finished speaking, he pointed in Ariel's direction:
"Next, it's our friend, Princess Ariel, the mermaid princess, who will come to you to fulfill her wish."